Nanotechnology News – Latest Headlines

Researchers at the Universities of Toronto and St. Francis Xavier are developing an affordable, energy efficient and ultra-sensitive nano-sensor that has the potential to detect even one molecule of carbon dioxide.

Most flexible polymers are inherently flimsy. When you look at their micro-structures it's easy to see why: They look like piles of entangled spaghetti strands. This leads to weak performance, says Northeastern University mechanical engineering professor Marilyn Minus, who is taking advantage of another scientific revolution to change this behavior: carbon nanotechnology.

Researchers from the University of Bordeaux in France deployed high-frequency sound waves to test the stiffness and viscosity of the nuclei of individual human cells. The scientists predict that the probe could eventually help answer questions such as how cells adhere to medical implants and why healthy cells turn cancerous.

Salk researchers share a how-to secret for biologists: code for Amazon Cloud that significantly reduces the time necessary to process data-intensive microscopic images. The method promises to speed research into the underlying causes of disease by making single-molecule microscopy of practical use for more laboratories.

A new way of growing graphene without the defects that weaken it and prevent electrons from flowing freely within it could open the way to large-scale manufacturing of graphene-based devices with applications in fields such as electronics, energy, and healthcare.

This new preliminary work shows the dots can be used to rapidly move high concentrations of calcitriol to targeted tumor sites where cancer cells accumulate, and also through the lymph system where the cancer spreads. With this approach, the calcitriol can fight on multiple fronts and the targeted location can be visualized with an imaging system tracking the quantum dots.

An international team of researchers has found a way to store vast amounts of data - up to one petabyte - per square inch. Using information stored in the spin of an electron, the scientists succeeded in storing the information in an organic molecule and reading it at a temperature close to room temperature.

An old material gets a new name, and with it, topological insulators have another chance to shine. Samarium hexaboride (SmB6) has been around since the late 1960s - but understanding its low temperature behavior has remained a mystery until recently. Experimentalists have recently confirmed that this material is the first true 3D topological insulator.

New York University physicists have developed a method for moving microscopic particles with the flick of a light switch. Their work relies on a blue light to prompt colloids to move and then assemble - much like birds flock and move together in flight.